The Lusitania Controversies Book Two: Dangerous Descents into Shipwrecks and Law

Book Two begins where Book One ends: at the start of the 1980’s - the decade of the Doria.

The Andrea Doria is synonymous with deep wreck-diving. Lying at a depth of 240 feet in unpredictable waters, it has attracted dedicated wreck-divers from around the world, and has been the site of some truly amazing feats and incredible penetrations into cold and utter darkness.

Elsewhere, the 1980’s saw the expansion of shipwreck discovery and the exploration of wrecks that present more challenges than the Doria: wrecks such as the Civil War ironclad Monitor and the battleship Washington. Eventually, intrepid underwater explorers exceeded the productive depth limitation for breathing air. Nitrogen narcosis, lengthy decompression, and oxygen toxicity forced divers to experiment with alternative breathing mixtures that obviated the hazards induced by air at depth.

Blends of helium and oxygen extended the depth range beyond 300 feet. The true test occurred in 1990, with the author’s successful dive to the German battleship Ostfriesland, at 380 feet. This pioneering venture and others that followed paved the way for the high-tech, mixed-gas diving expedition to the Lusitania in 1994, in which the author participated.

Book Two describes all these expeditions in detail, as well as the dispute over the Lusitania’s legal status: a culmination that is every bit as exciting and as dangerous as the adventures under water.

Instead of presenting the Lusitania dive in microcosm, as an isolated event, these two books place the expedition in global perspective. Together they show how divers reached the point at which a dive to the Lusitania became achievable and productive. They also show what pitfalls there have been along the way. For those who are willing to accept the risk, these are two books that you won’t want to miss.